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Force control for a large scale hydraulic excavator
The object of this project is to implement and test force control strategies for new hydraulic components on a test bench and on a full-size walking excavator.
Keywords: Hydraulic actuation, force control, construction machines, walking excavator
The RSL (http://www.rsl.ethz.ch) and Menzi Muck AG started a KTI project to automate walking excavators using control and optimization tools that were developed and tested with legged robots. The shared vision is to enhance the intelligence of these large scale construction machines such that they can autonomously or with small operator input drive or walk on rough and unstructured ground.
In this project, you will implement and test force control algorithms for hydraulic cylinders on an instrumented, single axis test bench as well as on a full scale M545 Menzi Muck Excavator. The test bench is equipped with an actuated cylinder with pressure sensors in both chambers, a passive cylinder that produces the load, a load cell to measure the force, and a linear position encoder. You will evaluate a new valve setup to achieve the best possible performance in terms of control bandwidth, disturbance rejection, and control efficiency. The implemented control strategy will adjust the valve input as a function of the
measured pressure at both chambers and the position and velocity of the piston. To this end, we perform a thorough model identification. It is important that the load cell is only available for performance validation but should not be used for control. The control strategy and hardware will then be implemented and tested on the real excavator.
The RSL (http://www.rsl.ethz.ch) and Menzi Muck AG started a KTI project to automate walking excavators using control and optimization tools that were developed and tested with legged robots. The shared vision is to enhance the intelligence of these large scale construction machines such that they can autonomously or with small operator input drive or walk on rough and unstructured ground.
In this project, you will implement and test force control algorithms for hydraulic cylinders on an instrumented, single axis test bench as well as on a full scale M545 Menzi Muck Excavator. The test bench is equipped with an actuated cylinder with pressure sensors in both chambers, a passive cylinder that produces the load, a load cell to measure the force, and a linear position encoder. You will evaluate a new valve setup to achieve the best possible performance in terms of control bandwidth, disturbance rejection, and control efficiency. The implemented control strategy will adjust the valve input as a function of the measured pressure at both chambers and the position and velocity of the piston. To this end, we perform a thorough model identification. It is important that the load cell is only available for performance validation but should not be used for control. The control strategy and hardware will then be implemented and tested on the real excavator.
Not specified
Marco Hutter mahutter@ethz.ch, Philipp Leemann pleemann@ethz.ch
Marco Hutter mahutter@ethz.ch, Philipp Leemann pleemann@ethz.ch
